Part 4: Growth and Evolution
The Steep Learning Curve
The first couple of months were a whirlwind. We played three days a week from 9 am to 11 am, with 14 different sets of 25 songs each. That’s a lot of music to organize and learn! But I loved the challenge. My reading skills improved dramatically, and my transposition skills got a workout too. But not for the reason you might think.
George: The Sax Virtuoso
George, our brilliant sax player, was a marvel. He played every song from memory, never reading a note. He could play any song in any key flawlessly. What we didn’t know was that George was in the early stages of dementia. His short-term memory was failing, but his long-term memory was sharp as ever. He could play any song in any key, but he couldn’t remember which song he was playing at the moment.
The Musical Jigsaw Puzzle
We’d start a song, get through the A section, and then George would play the bridge from a completely different song without realizing it. The amazing part? He’d transpose the bridge into the key of the current song without even knowing he was doing it. This meant I had to quickly recognize the switch and mentally transpose my part to match him. It was a fantastic mental challenge and helped me grow as a musician.
A Bittersweet Farewell
Sadly, George’s condition worsened, and he eventually couldn’t play anymore. I miss playing with him and am grateful for the unintentional challenges he gave me. They made me a better player and taught me a lot about adaptability and resilience.
Sure, here’s a revised version of your text with a friendly, humorous, and engaging tone:
Jaybird: The Lawrence Welk of Vero Beach
Meeting Jaybird
One day during my first month, Chuck asked, “Have you met Jaybird yet?”
“Who?” I replied, puzzled.
“Jaybird. Jay Miller,” Chuck clarified.
“No, not yet,” I said.
“Oh, just you wait. He’s the Lawrence Welk of Vero Beach,” Chuck added with a grin.
The First Encounter
About a week later, Jay Miller made his grand entrance to play the drums with us. From a distance, I noticed his outfit—a riot of colors and patterns that looked like he got dressed in the dark. None of it matched, but it was certainly memorable.
Jaybird wasted no time. He walked straight up to me, introduced himself, and asked for my name.
“Name a bird, any bird,” he said.
“What?” I asked, a bit confused.
“Name a bird, any bird,” he repeated.
I don’t remember which bird I named, but he responded with a cheerful, “Tweet. Tweet. I’m Jaybird.”
The Promoter Extraordinaire
Jaybird was a very personable character. Over time, I came to think of him as more promoter than musician. It took just a couple of weeks before he had me playing gigs with him, entertaining residents of the local assisted living facilities.
The New Year’s Eve Marathon
After about a month, he asked me if I was booked for New Year’s Eve. I told him that I was free.
Jaybird: “That’s good because we have four gigs to play.”
I thought he was going to have four bands playing in different locations and asked him which one he wanted me to play.
Jaybird: “All four.”
Me: “All four? How are we going to do that?”
He went on to explain that we were going to play three assisted living facilities; two in the afternoon and one in the evening. The last event was at a ballroom dance studio at 11:00 pm until just after midnight.
I love playing, but setting up and breaking down four times in 12 hours would be a bit much. I wondered how Jaybird was going to handle it. None of us was young, but he was the oldest of the bunch. It turned out that I didn’t need to be concerned.
The New Year’s Eve Marathon Continues…
When I got to the first gig at noon, Jaybird was already there. His drums were set up, and he was ready to go. We played the gig, packed up our equipment, and headed to the second gig.
Jaybird was already there. His drums were set up. But, it was a second drum set. Pretty sly old guy. We played that gig, packed up our equipment, and went to the third gig. Jaybird was already there and had a third drum set all ready to go.
If you think the same thing happened at the fourth gig, you would be correct. He booked four gigs and went around the day before, setting up four different drum sets. I’d never seen anything like it.
I came to think of Jaybird as more of a P.T. Barnum than Lawrence Welk.
To be continued.
Al Perna is a Jazz and Rock influenced Guitarist originally from southern Connecticut. Al began his musical journey at the age of 12 when he heard Chuck Berry on guitar. Al began to study the guitar and was heavily influenced by the jazz stylings of Johnny Smith, George Van Eps, and Freddy Greene. Al played in a Wedding Band performing the Country Club Circuit of Southern Connecticut and New York. Before moving to Florida, he lived in Colorado and played with the Colorado Guitar Quartet. Upon moving to Florida, Al played with several bands in Vero Beach before forming Al’s Pals Band. Al also plays with the Rock & Roll Revue in Melbourne, Fl.